


Sonny's Dilemma / Rafael's Resolution

by Lady_sb



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Magic, Mysterious beings bearing gifts, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:54:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24470878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_sb/pseuds/Lady_sb
Summary: After years of dancing around each other, Sonny Carisi and Rafael Barba have finally decided to give a relationship a try. But doubts still remain.Sonny wonders if he will be able to handle a relationship with Barba.While Barba wonders about the depth of Carisi’s feelings.But does the answer to both of their doubts lie in a mysterious shop in Chinatown?
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 41





	1. - Sonny's Dilemma -

**Author's Note:**

> Hello wonderful people. Considering that my last fic was a bit heavy, I decided to write something that was a bit fluffier and less serious and maybe a bit more sexy. 
> 
> The idea came after a lot of conversations with the wonderful @Sarahcakes613 where we wondered how Sonny would react if Rafael was cloned. And because I am OCD about symmetry, I wonder what would happen vice versa. 
> 
> But because I am incapable of writing something completely plotless, it has evolved into this massive fic, which I still had wayyyyy too much fun writing XD 
> 
> Just a couple of notes, the magical macguffin was shamelessly inspired (read:nicked) from a fave manga of mine Pet Shop of Horrors, and yes I was craving dim sum.
> 
> Comments/Kudos are love. And also, I would LOVE if you indicated in the comments which scenario you like better, Dilemma? Or Resolution? XD

***

_The beautiful devil on the bed_  
_Let’s have sex in the darkness_

***

“So apparently this gang is trafficking girls out of this self-serve laundromat.” 

“Uh huh.”

“We need to ask the other shops in the same area about the comings and goings.” 

“Yup sure.” 

“And after we’re done, you have to cover for me when I leave for my second job at the strip club.” 

“No probs… wait, what?” 

Amanda Rollins glared at her partner, her blue-eyed gaze steely enough that Sonny Carisi actually felt himself wilt. To be fair to Amanda though, Carisi had let himself drift off while she had been talking and driving about their upcoming round of recon. 

But to be fair to himself, he was the one that put together the earliest brief about this case. Troubling whispers about girls being bought and sold out of a particular corner of Chinatown. 

Since he had done preliminary legwork, Carisi thought it would be okay to zone out for a bit, to mull over something that had been worrying him recently. 

Or, to be more accurate, _someone_.

“I knew you haven’t been listening to me Carisi,” Amanda said accusingly, her eyes narrowing. “You’ve been a real space cadet ever since we left the precinct. What’s going on? Studying got you down or something?” 

Carisi hesitated a little as he wondered how close to the truth he could sail with Rollins. It would have been easy to fob it off as law school worries, but the truth was, Carisi was looking for someone to talk to about this topic. 

He just needed to tread extremely carefully, especially if he still wanted his balls in the morning. 

“I’ve been seeing someone…” Carisi started, only to have Amanda thump him painfully on the chest. 

“Aha! I knew it was girl trouble,” Amanda smirked. “Tell me about her.”

“Him, I’m dating a guy this time,” Carisi replied casually, and was glad to see that Amanda didn’t even blink. “And it’s new, but it seems to be going well, and he’s great…” 

“But?” Amanda drawled, pulling out the syllable as a verbal way of poking him to continue on. 

“He’s older and successful. Just wonder what I am bringing to the table that’s all,” Carisi muttered, looking out of the window with his chin on his palm. 

Amanda bit her lip. Carisi always had an easy confidence about him, except when it came to his romantic life, where his luck always seemed laughably shit. But even she could detect from the barebone glimpse he had just given her, that this guy was special. 

“Look, you said yourself it’s new. Don’t count yourself out before the game is even over Sonny,” she said sincerely. “It’s normal to feel this way at the start, and you aren’t so bad.” 

Carisi looked at her gratefully, knowing that she was giving him encouragement in her own low-key way. 

“Thanks Rollins.” 

“No problem, now… you better concentrate on what we have to do, because I think the Lieu would probably not be as interested in your romantic escapades,” Amanda said briskly, pulling into a parking space. 

“We have six shops to talk to. I take the three on the right, you take the left, and we meet at the end?” 

“Sure, sure,” Carisi said, straightening his suit jacket as he clipped his badge to his belt. Running through the list, he saw he had a mini-market, an artisanal jewellery store and a shop that was labeled as miscellaneous. 

Seemed easy enough. But Carisi found himself getting a tad frustrated when the first two shops seemed to yield no leads. The elderly Chinese mini-market owner was tight-lipped, only letting it slip that he saw girls hanging around outside the laundromat. The jewellery shop was too new to be of any use, having just opened the week before. 

So that left only the unnamed shop, which was tucked so deep in the backstreet that Carisi almost missed it. He frowned at the almost invisible frontage, hidden behind two large travellers palms flanking the ornate door. 

Carisi felt a slight uptick to his senses, all of which were telling him that this place was suspicious. When he entered, he was fully expecting the shop to be musty and full of dust, items and knick knacks sitting cheek-by-jowl on creaking shelves.

Only to be pleasantly surprised when he found that the entire space was as neat as a pin. Items on the shelves were well spaced and seemed to mostly consist of colourful glassware, which cast rainbow diamonds on the burnt orange floor. 

And the place smelt _incredible_. A heady mix of sandalwood, vanilla and blood orange that permeated the air and seeped into the fabric of his clothes. 

“Hello?” 

Carisi jumped when a slender man suddenly appeared from behind the curtain at the back of the shop. Cursing internally at how he let his guard down, Carisi straightened his shoulders to face the owner of the voice.

Only to have his palms instantly go clammy. 

The man was beautiful in a way that statues were, elfin features with dark, gossamer hair curling around his earlobes. But he radiated something warm, almost cheeky, which made Sonny want to run his hands through his hair and present himself at his best. 

“Can I help you, Detective?” the man said with a smile, the briefest of pauses in between his words as his eyes dropped to Carisi’s badge. 

That broke the spell, allowing Carisi to slip back into work mode. 

“Detective Carisi. And you are?”

“Toshiya. Welcome to my incense shop,” Toshiya replied with a slight bow, his accent clipping his sentences at the corners. “How may I be of service?” 

“I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about the laundromat down the street?” 

“Oh,” Toshiya answered with pursed lips. “The one where a lot of girls unfortunately head to do their laundry?” 

Carisi’s ears perked up. 

“You know about the shop?” 

“I do, but I also know that a lot of people here don’t want to talk about it,” Toshiya said seriously, his fingers splayed on the mandarin collar of his brocade top in a gesture of self-protection. 

“Well if there is anything you can share, we will keep it strictly confidential,” Carisi said, pulling out his notebook. 

“Only that the girls seem to come every two days, like clockwork. And it’s always the same rather nasty looking man, he reminds me of the yakuza gangsters back in Tokyo,” Toshiya said with a sniff. 

“Anything else?” Carisi asked scribbling the notes down. Well, at least they now had some idea of a schedule. 

“Only that he is almost always alone, and he comes in this rather beat up Prius. I have a still shot from our security cameras,” Toshiya said, pulling his phone out of his jeans. 

Carisi felt a tremor of excitement when he could clearly make out the plates on the car. It may turn out to have been stolen or swapped, but at least it was a starting point. He couldn’t wait to share it with Rollins. 

“Thank you, you’ve been very helpful,” Carisi said, jotting down the numbers before snapping his notebook shut. “If you see anything else, please don’t hesitate to call me.” 

Toshiya accepted the card between two slender fingers with a nod. But his eyes did not leave Carisi’s face the entire time, making the detective feel as if he were being hypnotised. 

Mentally shaking his head, Carisi turned on his heel to leave, only to stop when Toshiya suddenly spoke. 

“Detective?” 

It was just one word, but the tone froze Carisi’s step. He felt compelled to slowly turn around to face Toshiya again, who was currently tilting his head in a manner that reminded Carisi of an inquisitive bird, his dark almond-shaped eyes like reflective pools. 

“Have you been having trouble sleeping?” Toshiya asked almost kindly, a finger on his lips. 

Carisi bristled at this unsolicited observation from a complete stranger. 

“You don’t have to worry about me sir,” he said shortly. 

“I wasn’t trying to belittle you Detective. I would expect someone like you to have a lot of weight on his shoulders. Your blood type is O-negative I gather?” 

Carisi felt a chill pass through him. 

“How did you...” 

Toshiya’s grin widened, becoming almost Cheshire cat-like. That coupled with the faded scent of the shop carried in the afternoon sunbeams made Carisi’s head spin. 

“In Japan, we believe that blood type has a lot to do with personality. It is fitting that someone like you, who fights for what is right, should be a universal donor. But something is troubling you and throwing you off balance.” 

Carisi felt a swell of anger, because the one thing he hated above everything else, was someone questioning his commitment to the job. 

“Look, sir…” 

But Carisi stopped short when Toshiya pressed a small box into his hand. 

“Please, have this Detective Carisi. A gift from me,” Toshiya said unperturbed, his hands surprisingly large and covering Carisi’s entirely. 

“I can’t accept this…” Carisi sputtered. Toshiya smiled disarmingly, which made Carisi feel wrong-footed. 

“It is not a bribe Detective, and I am not asking for anything in return or any special treatment. It is a thank you for protecting us, for putting your life on the line for us.”

Toshiya guided Carisi’s hand over the top, his expression imploring and making him look even more beguiling. 

“Please accept this, maybe it will help you find the answer you’ve been looking for,” Toshiya said softly. 

Internally, the cop in Carisi was screaming for him not to take it. It was a trick, a trap, nobody ever gave away anything for nothing. He knew that it would be foolish to put himself in this kind of position. 

He wouldn’t take it. 

***

He took it. 

Sonny put his head in his hands and sighed. He wondered if he could plead temporary insanity, because he genuinely could not explain how he ended up with this wooden box sitting in the middle of his coffee table. 

The only comfort was that it didn’t look _that_ expensive. The box was balsa wood, wrapped in rough pulp paper covered in Japanese calligraphy. Inside were sticks of incense bundled together like twigs and a simple porcelain holder. 

Sonny had thought about tossing it, but the _smell_. It was deeper and more complex than what he had experienced at the shop. It reminded him of a forest in autumn. 

“What are you staring at Carisi?” 

For the second time that day, Carisi jumped. Only this time, there was no immediate rush of resentment at the interruption. He couldn’t feel that way really, not when it came from Rafael Barba. 

Who was currently staring at him quizzically as he stomped his shoes and took off his coat in Carisi’s hallway. 

“Nothing,” Carisi said with a shake of his head. “Hey,” he greeted, kissing his boyfriend chastely on the mouth. 

“Hey to you too Sonny,” Rafael replied, which made Sonny smile. The relationship was still new enough that having Barba walk in using his spare key still made him feel fuzzy inside. 

“Why are you grinning like an idiot?” 

But apparently not long enough for all the insults to go away. 

“Like I said, nothing, just… case. Dinner?” Carisi said, swiftly changing the subject as he waved in the direction of his dining table. 

Every couple had a thing, and theirs was Friday night dinners. They had made it a point to never miss it, unless one of them was away or undercover. After flying solo for so long, Carisi liked that they had a routine. That every Friday they would without fail, go over to each other’s apartment, order or cook, and catch up. 

Yes, they had conversations at work, but this was different. It made Sonny realise that was much as their work bound them together, their relationship also had zero to do with it.

Like now, work was the farthest thing from both their minds, sprawled as they were on Sonny’s Ikea couch. Rafael’s feet were on the younger man’s lap, as they watched late night talk shows. Seth Meyers for him, and Stephen Colbert for Barba. 

Sonny was happy, and that worried him, a _lot_. 

He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t realise Rafael’s foot casually toying with his zipper, the instep softly brushing against his groin. 

“Dirty tactics Barba,” Sonny hissed, even as he twitched under the fabric. 

“Well, you zoned out during Meyer’s Closer Look, so I figured that would get your attention,” Rafael said with a half-smile, which faded a minute later. “Something bothering you?” 

“Just tired,” Sonny replied, not knowing whether he was up for something more serious. To his credit, Rafael didn’t press him. 

“Let’s go to bed then,” Rafael said, pulling Sonny to his feet and into his arms for a kiss. Sonny couldn’t stop a small moan from spilling out when Rafael nipped his bottom lip. 

“Rafi, I am not sure if…” 

“To sleep Sonny. Let’s just go and get some sleep. I am wiped too,” Rafael replied. 

“You sure you're okay with that?” Sonny replied, instantly feeling guilty. His boyfriend was unabashedly sexy, Sonny felt like he could fuck him every day if he let him, but for some reason today he was feeling uncharacteristically sluggish. 

Rafael shot him a very pointed look that reminded Sonny of when they had first met. A look that told him that he was clearly thick. 

“Carisi, I am not in a relationship with your dick. Well, not completely with your dick,” Rafael snarked. 

Sonny knew he was teasing him, but it felt like sandpaper across his skin. At a glance, everything was going well between the two of them. Sure they had arguments and disagreements, some fairly major, but it seemed like they were making progress. 

Even so, there would be moments where Sonny would be watching Barba, whether at home or in court, and self-doubt would creep in. 

And he wondered whether it would ever go away. 

“Coming Sonny?” Rafael said, while at the doorway to his bedroom. 

“Yeah, in a min,” Sonny replied, switching off the TV and the living room lights. As he was shuffling his magazines on the table, he accidentally brushed against the incense box from earlier, knocking it to the ground. 

Unbidden, he heard that silky voice in his head. 

_“It will help you find the answer you’ve been looking for.”_

On a whim, Sonny grabbed a stick of incense and the holder and brought it into his bedroom. He placed it on top of his bureau, lighting it after they had both gotten ready for bed. 

Sonny jumped back as it went off like a mini firework sparkler, a deep blue flame that quickly burned out, leaving a ribbon of pale purple smoke. It instantly filled his room with the scent of wind grazing the forest floor.

“That smells nice, what is that Sonny?” Rafael asked with curiosity, looking up from his phone.

“Incense. Got it somewhere in Chinatown,” Sonny said, crawling under the duvet after making sure the incense wouldn’t catch anything on fire. “Apparently it will help with sleep.”

“Seems to be working,” Rafael replied with a yawn. “Good night Sonny.”

“Good night Rafael.” 

***

Sonny felt like he was falling. Floating through a dark blue space, surrounded by electric pink tigers and formless stars, crudely drawn as if by kids with endless piles of crayons. And whenever he moved, he left behind him a purple vapour trail of camphor and vetiver. 

Sonny woke with a jerk, his heart in his throat. For a few minutes, he felt a sharp stab of panic as his heartbeat raced and a cold sweat beaded his brow. 

“What the fuck was that?” he muttered, as he took deep gulps of air to slow his breathing. Sonny never had dreams that vivid before, if he could even call it a dream. It felt more like an acid trip. 

But when he came back to his senses he realised that he was alone in bed, his sheets tangled at his waist. His thrashing must have woken up Barba, he realised with a ping of remorse.

“Why didn’t he wake me though?” Sonny thought to himself, as he swung himself out of bed. Usually, Barba would have taken some delight in needling his boyfriend about ruining his beauty sleep. 

Yawning wide enough to crack his jaw, Sonny scratched his belly under his sleeping shirt as he walked into his living room. 

“Morning Rafi.” 

“Morning Sonny.” 

“Morning Sonny.” 

Sonny froze at the apparent echo in the room, which was strange. He had lived here for years and there had never been an echo in the living room. 

Turning to the dining table, Sonny was about to say as much, when the words constricted painfully in his throat.

Sonny blinked, rubbed his eyes, and blinked again. 

There was Rafael at the table, dressed in a pair of blue boxers and the old Harvard T-shirt he slept in. And opposite him appeared to also be Rafael, but this one was wearing grey sweatpants and one of Sonny’s Fordham T-shirts. 

And both were looking at him with identical green eyes. 

Sonny let out a near scream as he tripped backwards, and fell hard on his floor with a solid thump. 

“Sonny, Sonny you need to calm down,” Rafael said, the one who was in the Harvard T-shirt. He immediately got up and crouched down to where Sonny was frantically attempting to crawl backwards. 

“No, no there are two of you! Why are there two of you?” Sonny’s voice got louder and louder, until Rafael clapped a hand over his mouth. 

“You have to keep it down or someone will call the police.” The other Rafael was the one that said this, while not moving from his chair. 

Sonny pried Rafael’s hand from his mouth so he could snap, “I am the police, and what the fuck is going on?” 

Leaning back on his haunches, Harvard Rafael shot a glance at his doppelganger, who answered with a shrug. 

“We don’t know Sonny,” Rafael answered quietly. “We woke up like this. I got up a couple hours ago and there he...I mean there _I_ was sitting in the living room.” 

“So what you are going through right now, we already have,” Fordham Rafael answered, running a hand through his mussed hair. 

Sonny's eyes widened as his gaze shifted from the Rafael next to him, to the Rafael sitting in front of him, as the small spark of panic from earlier started to manifest into a full blown attack. 

“This has to be a dream, this has to be a...ow!” 

Sonny rubbed his arm where he had been pinched as Rafael glared at him. Actually both Rafaels were glaring at him, which was highly disconcerting to say the least. 

“You both seem to be remarkably well adjusted to this,” Sonny muttered, the pain helping to disperse his earlier frantic burst as he got to his feet, pulling Rafael up in the process. 

“It’s odd. When it first happened we were both freaked out, but it’s almost like we can sense another, like we have this idea of what the other is thinking and feeling. But the connection is kind of fuzzy, like deja vu,” Harvard Rafael said, sitting down on the arm of the couch. 

“Plus, it came to us that maybe we could get more done,” Fordham Rafael said, sweeping his hand across the table. “While waiting for you to get up we managed to actually finish two briefs.” 

He couldn’t help it, Sonny had to laugh even though it sounded a little manic. Of course the first thing that Barba would do after cloning himself, would be to get back to work. 

Hell, it was probably the first time he had someone he could fully trust to bounce ideas off on. 

“Okay okay, let’s say this is actually real and...ow! Stop pinching me!” 

Rafael smirked, and Sonny narrowed his eyes as the expression was duplicated on Fordham Barba’s face. 

“Do we have an idea how this happened?” Sonny said, glancing down at the twin bruises on his arm. 

“The only thing that we could come up with that was different, was that incense you burned before we fell asleep. Otherwise nothing changed, and we didn’t eat anything out of the ordinary,” Harvard Rafael said. 

“Where did you get it Sonny?” the other Rafael asked. 

“A shop, in Chinatown like I said. I went in to dig around about a case, and the owner insisted I take the incense. Said it was a gift for being a cop, said he could see that I was having trouble sleeping and that this would help,” Sonny answered.

For a minute, Sonny thought he saw something that looked remarkably like worry skitter over both faces in front of him. But with everything going on at the moment, it barely registered. 

Although his earlier shock had petered out, Sonny wasn’t sure if he could be near the Rafaels just yet. So he chose to hover just at the edge of his living room as the three of them paused to troubleshoot the problem in their heads. 

“Well, the most logical thing would be go to back to the shop and ask them what the fuck is going on. If the owner was so insistent, I doubt that this situation would be a surprise to him,” Fordham Rafael was the one that offered this up. 

“In the meantime, one of us should go back to our apartment and get more clothes. We both will have to spend the weekend here, because I don’t think we can risk someone we know running into us...well, both of us,” Harvard Rafael mused. 

Sonny pinched the bridge of his nose, this was getting fucking ridiculous. 

“Good idea, I will go to the shop. One of you, go to your place. I only have so many clothes that you...both of you can fit.” 

Both Rafaels nodded in sync, which made Sonny feel like he was genuinely losing his mind. 

“Shower first though,” Fordham Rafael said, getting up. Harvard Rafael quirked an eyebrow at his counterpart. 

“What makes you think you can shower first?” Harvard Rafael said with his arms crossed. Fordham Rafael shrugged. 

“We could technically shower together. I mean it’s not as if we haven’t seen absolutely everything.” 

Almost against his will, Sonny felt an instant flicker of lust low in his belly. He couldn’t stop it, no more than he could stop his mind from imagining his boyfriend in the shower, being soaped up, as his mirror image slowly dragged a loofah over his hirsute chest. 

Okay, Sonny now _officially_ felt like he had lost his mind. 

“I’m going first,” Sonny said under his breath, brushing past the two of them to get to his bathroom. 

Maybe this whole situation would make more sense after a shower, a particularly cold one. 

***

Any hopes of a quick solution were dashed when Sonny’s Lyft pulled up to the shop, only to find it closed. 

Muttering curses in multiple languages under his breath, Sonny read the sign that had been hastily pasted on the door, stating that the owner had to suddenly leave due to an emergency and would be back Monday. 

Sonny sighed, in a way he had been expecting something like this. Nothing in his life had ever gone according to plan, why not a scenario where his boyfriend had been run through a copier?

The only good thing about going out was that it allowed Sonny to drop by his closest Trader Joe’s to pick up supplies for the weekend. He had a feeling that both Rafaels would want to stay out of sight as much as possible. 

“I’m home,” Sonny called out as he pushed into the apartment with one arm full of groceries. 

“Welcome back Sonny,” Rafael replied, looking up from behind the stacks of files on the dining room table. One glance at his shirt, and Sonny could see that Harvard Rafael had been chosen to run their clothes errand. 

Putting down the paper bag, Sonny automatically leaned in for a kiss that Rafael responded without even glancing up. 

Well, at least he still kissed the same. 

But God, Sonny suddenly felt so tired. 

“I’m gonna nap Rafael, slept badly last night,” Sonny said, after he had put the groceries away and left a chicken in the sink to defrost. He didn’t even wait for a response before collapsing onto his couch and closing his eyes. 

When he finally came to, the first thing he felt was a warm hand on his forehead, tenderly tracing the arch of his orbital bone, and the presence of a solid lap under his head. 

“What time is it?” Sonny asked groggily. 

“Five, you got a couple of hours in,” Rafael said, running his fingers through Sonny’s thick silver hair. “Feel better?” 

“Actually yeah,” Sonny said, stretching his arms above his head. It was amazing how rested you could feel when your dreams didn’t comprise of electric boogaloo animals. 

He felt even better when Rafael leaned down to kiss him again, deeper this time, which left Sonny on the edge of breathless. 

“What was that for?” 

Sonny saw a quicksilver flash of teeth as Rafael bit the inside of his lip, which told him that the ADA was pondering over how much to let his guard down. 

“You said you haven’t been sleeping. What’s been on your mind Sonny? I know I am not the easiest person to talk to but I do care about you.” 

Sonny opened his mouth only to have Rafael put a hand up. 

“And don’t you dare say it’s nothing Sonny. There is another version of me running around out there because someone saw that you were troubled.”

Sonny’s mouth snapped shut, he had him there. 

“I don’t really know Rafi. I mean, sometimes it gets a bit much when I think about it, the job, us. It can get a bit overwhelming,” Sonny said, getting to his feet. Only to have Rafael pull him back down. 

“It can be, but we really do need to just get past it. It’s not the sexiest advice but it’s the truest. Sometimes, you just need to take things as they come and make the most of it.” 

“I suppose,” Sonny whispered, but his breathing stuttered when Rafael moved closer. “What are you doing?” 

Rafael shrugged, his hand now firmly on the buckle of Sonny’s belt. 

“For now, you are all mine. And I know of some other way to get your nerves out of you,” Rafael said huskily, kissing Sonny’s jawline until his nose was buried in his temple. 

“You go grey so beautifully Sonny, have I ever told you that?” Rafael said, tracing the shell of his lover’s ear. 

“I think being split in two has given you a split personality Barba. You’ve never been so generous with your flattery,” Sonny chuckled, his hand now gripping the other man’s bicep. 

“I’ve said good things about this though right?” Rafael replied, deftly undoing Sonny’s jeans with one hand. Reaching inside his briefs, Rafael pulled out Sonny’s dick that was slowly getting harder in his palm. 

Sonny snorted. 

“Only when you are… umf.” 

Rafael cut off Sonny’s protest with a bruising kiss that was all teeth and tongue. Licking and sucking his mouth open, which turned on Sonny so much. He liked when Barba was aggressive, it was his way of letting his lover get past his boundaries. 

“Oh yeah,” Sonny moaned when Rafael’s strokes got stronger. He sucked on Rafael’s earlobe when his movements turned rough, bit down when it got a bit too intense. 

“Like that Rafi, like that,” Sonny panted, his hands fisting Rafael’s shirt when the other man kept running his thumb over the slippery tip. 

“Earlier, when I… well when _we_ talked about showering together, did that turn you on Sonny?” Rafael asked seductively, his voice dropping to his lower register.

All Sonny could do at this point was moan, but the visible way his cock jumped in Rafael’s hand was answer enough. 

“Oh Sonny, you dirty boy,” Rafael said, kissing the corner of Sonny’s mouth. “Is that what is going to make you come so hard? Just more of me?” 

“Rafi…”

“Did you imagine us topping-and-tailing you Sonny? Me fucking you as you suck off the other me?” 

“Rafi, Rafi I am so close…”

“Is that what I look like when giving handjobs?” 

“Christ!” Sonny leapt backwards with such force that he fell off the couch, landing on the carpet in an awkward pile. 

Fordham Rafael glared at Harvard Rafael who was standing in the doorway, holding what it seemed was half their wardrobe. 

“Do you mind? I was about to make him come,” Fordham Rafael said prissily, helping Sonny back onto the couch. Harvard Rafael shrugged. 

“Don’t let me stop you. I will just go put all this away. I have no idea how long we are going to be stuck like this, so I just brought multiple changes,” Harvard Rafael said carelessly, dumping all of his clothes on the armchair. 

Despite how cavalier he sounded, Harvard Rafael moved closer to deliberately kiss a still dazed Sonny, as intimately as a closed mouth kiss could be. Sonny watched through lust filled eyes as Harvard Rafael moved closer to his mirror image so he could suck the other’s thumb, and swallow the musk of Sonny’s pre-cum. 

That got Sonny hard as a nail in seconds. 

“Shoo,” Fordham Rafael told himself as he got back to the task at hand. Sonny gripped the stuffing on his couch when the ADA not only increased his strokes, but started squeezing his balls and rubbing his knuckles against his perineum. 

“Come on Sonny, come all over yourself _carino_ ,” Rafael urged, nuzzling his lover’s neck now. 

Sonny came when Rafael started sucking on his skin, his fist stuffed into his mouth as his cock jerked and spunked all over his shirt. Rafael kept stroking him until he was dry, until Sonny had to push his hand away with a whimper. 

“Hmmm…” Rafael murmured as he licked a streak of creamy white from his thumb. Sonny watched him do this through hooded eyes as his breathing slowly came back to normal. 

“Now who is the dirty one Rafael?” Sonny said darkly, his orgasm slurring his words a bit. 

“Are the two of you done yet? I’m hungry,” Harvard Rafael said, suddenly appearing in their line of vision with his arms crossed. But even through his orgasm haze, Sonny could see the hard outline of his cock pressed against his thigh. 

Fordham Rafael must have noticed too, but said nothing as he got to his feet. “I don’t think Sonny is capable of anything at the moment, so let me see what I can fix up.” 

The two Rafaels shared a look as they passed by each other. If Sonny had been looking up, he would have been very concerned at the mutual devious glint in those hazel eyes. 

“God, you are messy,” Harvard Rafael admonished, his fingers fumbling at the buttons of Sonny’s lumberjack shirt. 

“What… what are you doing?” Sonny said, which gave him a moment of deja vu. 

“Laundry Carisi, unless you like your clothes smelling of cum,” Rafael said briskly. But Sonny did not miss the deliberate way his thumb lingered over his collarbone. 

“Saying that, I don’t mind though,” Rafael whispered, doing a complete 180 as he placed his hands on either side of Sonny’s body. Before he could blink, Sonny was suddenly topless as Rafael stripped him, and felt his lover’s fingers on his nipples, flicking and pinching. 

“My turn Sonny,” Rafael said smokily, straightening back up and undoing the button of his jeans. 

Sonny licked his lips as Rafael pulled his briefs down revealing his already hard cock, heavy and bobbing between his legs. Leaning forward with a groan, Sonny sloppily sucked on the tip, cupping Rafael’s amazing ass in his hands so he could pull him closer, force more of him down his throat. 

“Easy, easy Sonny... _ahh_!” Rafael threw his head back as Sonny just went for it. Yes, it was still weird that there were two of them. Yes, it was more than a little fucked up that this was turning him on so much. 

But frankly, Sonny didn’t care as he swallowed and tightened his lips around Rafael’s thick shaft. He twisted the base of his lover’s prick, which just made more of the pre-cum seep out. 

“Fuck Rafi, did you feel left out?” Sonny teased, his voice hoarse. He lapped at the sensitive slit of Rafael’s prick, and rubbed his nose against the dusky shaft. 

“Yes, I wanted to be the one touching you. _Yes_!” Rafael groaned, so deep and so long that Sonny felt the vibrations in the roof of his mouth. It was the only warning he got before Rafael came in his mouth, coating his tongue and shooting down his throat. 

Sonny greedily swallowed it all, but couldn’t stop some from leaking out of his mouth. He kept his mouth on his lover’s cock though until Rafael tugged on his hair for him to stop. 

“When you are finished, I fried up some sausages and eggs, don’t have the mood to do much else so I put the chicken back in the freezer,” Fordham Rafael said, coming back into the living room. 

For a split second, Sonny felt a hot sear of guilt burn through him at being caught in front of his lover with another man’s dick in his hand. But that went away when Fordham Rafael crossed the room so he could kiss Sonny, tasting his doppelganger’s come. 

“Interesting,” Fordham Rafael said quietly, which for some reason made Sonny shiver even more intensely than his orgasm had. 

“I’ll get the plates,” Harvard Rafael said, cooly wiping his dick and tucking himself back in. 

“You are both enjoying this aren’t you?” 

Both Rafaels turned at the sound of Sonny’s accusation as he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, identical innocent expressions on both their faces. 

“No idea…” 

“... what you are talking about.” 

Sonny gave a wry grin as they finished each other’s sentences, before following them both into the kitchen. 

*** 

It turned out that dealing with two Rafaels was no different from dealing with one. 

Only that it was a heck of a lot more work. 

“Sonny, read this for me, the other me has the glasses.” 

“Sonny, you forgot the milk, can you run down to the bodega?”

“Sonny, where is the remote?” 

“Sonny, I can’t seem to find your iron.”

“Holy crap, are you guys making me run around on purpose?” Sonny all but exploded as he set up his steam iron. It had been only about three hours since they had finished dinner, and already Sonny felt like he had run a marathon around his apartment. 

“Blame that guy,” Fordham Rafael said defensively from his position on Sonny’s armchair, feet dangling off the side as he browsed on his laptop. “I am at least trying to find a solution, but any Google about magical twins seems to lead me to some very questionable websites.” 

Harvard Rafael, who was back in boxers and the aforesaid T-shirt, rolled his eyes as he sank further into the couch. 

“Who was the one who actually had to go to our apartment to get our stuff? And who had to explain to every one of our neighbours that, no, we aren’t moving out, we are just spending the weekend at the boyfriend’s.” 

Sonny started when he realised that this was the first time Rafael had actually called him that. That didn’t mean he wasn’t still a bit peeved though. 

“You both can keep arguing with… yourself. I am going to shower,” Sonny said, knowing that he sounded a bit curt. But it had been a very trying day, the mid-afternoon quickie aside.

Sonny was so in his own head that he missed the look of concern passing between his two lovers. 

Although the shower helped to clear his mind somewhat, Sonny still felt antsy as he walked into the bedroom, only to find one of the Rafael’s spread out on the bed. He wasn’t sure which one though given that he was completely naked. 

“Come to bed Sonny,” Rafael beckoned softly, patting the comforter. 

“You don’t want me to get you anything before I do?” Sonny said, more than a little sarcastically. But he obeyed anyway, and was rewarded with Rafael pulling him down so that Sonny was lying alongside him. 

“Don’t. Just turn the lights off,” Rafael whispered, moving in closer so that he could rub the back of Sonny’s neck. Dirty trick really, it never took much on Barba’s part to make Carisi forgive him. 

“Which Rafael am I kissing right now?” Sonny murmured against the ADA’s lips. 

“The one’s whose dick you didn’t suck,” Rafael said, his voice so sensuous that it almost sounded like a purr. “Wanna remedy that?” 

“Why not?” Sonny’s grin deepened. He saw the drops of water from his wet hair fall and catch on Rafael’s broad chest, and swallowed hard. Sonny took a deep breath and followed the natural whorls of hair on Rafael’s body with his mouth, using them like markers to guide him down until he reached the edge of his pubic bush. 

But when he got to his dick, Sonny ignored it completely in favour of moving lower. Parting Rafael’s cheeks to reveal his asshole, pink and tempting. Rafael involuntarily twitched and felt himself grow harder when Sonny sighed at the sight. 

At first, Sonny’s tongue was quick and fleeting, more ticklish that arousing. But when Sonny made his as broad as possible and started to lap at Rafael’s hole in earnest, he could barely keep his hips down. 

“So I don’t get blown, but I get rimmed instead?” Rafael said in between short bursts of laughter and moans. 

“Are you honestly complaining Rafael?” Sonny asked in near disbelief from between the older man’s legs, his hair sticking up and his lips sinfully wet. 

“Not in the least Sonny, come on, eat me out,” Rafael said, his voice more serious now as he guided Sonny’s head back down. He shuffled his legs further apart so that Sonny could have room to double down and burrow his tongue deeper. 

“Oh, fuck _me_ …”

“Again, I get left out! Like what the fuck Sonny?” 

Sonny turned sharply at the sound of Rafael’s voice, the residual guilt from earlier putting all his senses on edge. His boyfriend was watching them, leaning against the door jamb, with an expression on his face that was an even mix of annoyance and arousal. 

This would be Harvard Rafael talking as Sonny was currently sucking Fordham’s Rafael’s balls. 

And that was a sentence that Sonny never, ever, in his lifetime thought he would ever be thinking. 

“Do you fucking mind?” Fordham Rafael snapped, his hand tightening in Sonny’s hair, making him wince. “I didn’t barge in and interrupt your blowjob did I?” 

Something in Rafael’s voice caused a twinge in Sonny, giving him a spurt of courage. 

“He’s right Rafi, you wait your turn. If you are good, I will eat you out too,” Sonny said darkly, the glitter of determination in his eyes more obvious in the soft yellow light. He pushed Rafael’s thighs back and up, so he could purse his lips over Rafael’s asshole and suck, _hard_.

“Oh Sonny, that’s so good!” 

“Fuck, you look so sexy Sonny with your tongue in my ass,” Harvard Rafael said, dropping his earlier bravado to sit on the edge of the bed, moving closer so he could have a better look. 

“Tell me… tell me what he is doing,” Fordham Rafael asked, his chest heaving as he anchored one hand on the headboard. 

“His lips, they are on the rim and I can see that he’s trying to open you up. Fuck, his tongue, he is using his tongue to fuck you, can you feel him fuck you?” Harvard Rafael said, describing all of Sonny’s actions in a breathless blow-by-blow which made Sonny’s dick stain the sheets. 

“Can’t wait, inside Sonny,” Fordham Rafael ordered, even though the tone sounded closer to a plea. He pulled away from Sonny’s mouth on the pretense of looking for a condom, but more to give himself a measure of control. 

Just as well, Sonny needed the break too, holding on to the base of his cock to stop himself from coming too soon. Because he wanted to make this last as long as possible. 

He was over it being weird or perverted. He just wanted to enjoy himself, to drown in the dual pleasures being offered by both Rafaels, both of whom were clearly hot and horny for him. 

Harvard Rafael pressed a condom and the tube of KY into Sonny’s hand, before sitting back so that he could keep watching. He let loose a guttural sound at the back of his throat as he watched Sonny slick his fingers up and push them inside his mirror image. 

“Never expected you to be a voyeur Rafi,” Sonny said, dropping a quick kiss to Harvard Rafael’s cheek. Only to have him respond by catching Sonny’s jaw so he could reciprocate with something much dirtier. 

“Neither did I,” Rafael whispered his confession, every word brimming with desire.

It made Sonny realise how much he wanted to pleasure the both of them. How bringing both of them off mattered more to him than his own climax. 

However, Fordham Rafael was not happy that he was currently being ignored and nudged Sonny with his knee as if to tell him to get on with it. 

“Hang on, hang on Rafi, I’ve got ya,” Sonny reassured, pushing two fingers now inside his lover’s hole, slippery with spit and lube. He stretched and stroked as Harvard Rafael took off all his clothes and watched, openly jerking himself off. 

Sonny couldn’t distinguish whose sigh was louder when he finally put on the condom and slid into his lover with one strong, smooth stroke. Sonny watched with hooded eyes as the Rafael he was fucking clamped down on his prick, his pleasure a visceral, visible ripple through his body. 

Sonny was so big, and filled him so well, that it made Rafael sink his nails into the younger man’s biceps. 

Digging his knees in, Sonny started fucking the ADA with sharp, deep thrusts causing him to skid across the mattress. Every movement made Rafael’s cock twitch and flush, as did the rest of his body. 

Sonny was so focused on what he was doing that he almost missed the desperate groan coming from beside him. He turned and saw Harvard Rafael frantically touching himself, his hand a blur on his prick. 

An idea sparked in Sonny that made him stop his movements, even as he was still buried to the hilt inside the ADA. 

“Kneel Rafi, push your cock up so you can fuck my mouth,” Sonny said ordered, the naked lust in his eyes making Rafael shudder. Straightening his body, Harvard Rafael didn’t hesitate before grabbing Sonny by the hair so he could feed him his cock. 

But when their eyes met, Rafael’s eyes were so soft, in contrast to how hard he was gripping him. It was almost as if he were asking Sonny for permission. 

That Sonny gave, without question. 

“I’m going to fuck your mouth Sonny, while you fuck him,” Rafael growled, pushing his cock past Sonny’s lips until he hit the back of his throat. Sonny opened his jaw as wide as he could so that Rafael’s prick was as deep in as it could go. Deep enough that Sonny’s nose was brushing against that thick patch of curls. 

But all of a sudden, Rafael’s hips jerked, which almost made Sonny choke. He felt Rafael’s cock jump in his mouth, and tasted a burst of salt on his palate. 

Sonny’s eyes widened when he realised that Fordham Rafael had somehow pushed himself up so he could reach around and finger-fuck his mirror image. All the while sporting a devilish grin. 

It was like a cascade. Every time Rafael fucked Sonny’s throat, Sonny would then thrust deeper, which made the Rafael he was fucking, finger his other self harder. 

It was the sexiest thing Sonny had ever experienced. 

“Sonny, gonna come,” the Rafael he was blowing said, before letting out a cry loud enough to wake the neighbours. He came in hard, hot spurts in Sonny’s mouth, painting his lips.

Not a minute later, the Rafael that Sonny was currently screwing like an animal also reached his end, with one hand firmly on his cock and his cum spilling all over his chest. 

Sonny was a good boy, a _really_ fucking good boy, so he waited. Waited until his lover stopped coming, for his body to stop convulsing. Waited until he was practically trembling with arousal. 

“Pull out Sonny,” Rafael ordered suddenly, his voice hard. 

“What? You’ve got to be fucking joking,” Sonny said angrily to the Rafael next to him. But the tone in the ADA’s voice brooked no argument. 

“Listen to us,” the other Rafael spoke, inching back until Sonny slipped out of him. He moved to the side so that the younger man could have some room on the bed. 

With a curse, Sonny tore the condom off and fell backwards onto the bed. His dick was so hard it was almost purple, dripping a constant stream of pre-ejaculate. 

“Good…

...boy.”

Then Sonny felt it, two pairs of insistent lips all over his groin. One sucking on his shaft as the other licked his asshole. Both of them with his balls in the mouth. One was tonguing the sensitive underside of his cockhead, while the other was frantically rimming him. 

Opening his eyes, Sonny saw the both of them on either side of his dick, their green eyes wicked, their lips touching as they slid up and down.

And he lost it. 

He came with a strangled cry, his cum spurting over both of his lovers, thick and hot and sticky. But even after he stopped coming, his body still twitched and writhed like had had electrical currents passing through him. 

Sonny swore he blanked for several seconds, with the only things grounding him were the soft kisses being placed on his forehead and the base of his neck. 

Grinning, Sonny rolled over to kiss the Rafael that was closest to him, indulging in a rare tenderness that only seemed appropriate in times like this. But then he felt a strong tug on his elbow, accompanied by a low-pitched grumble. 

Shifting to the other side, Sonny barely caught his breath before the other Rafael also kissed him. If he didn’t know better, he would say this kiss was more possessive, the intent more obvious. 

By this point, Sonny had lost track of which Rafael was which. But he found it hard to care when he was being kissed like that. 

“Sonny, I feel sticky.”

“Sonny, it’s kind of cold.” 

Right, back to this again, Sonny chuckled inwardly. Gingerly disentangling himself from both his lovers, he grabbed an extra duvet and pillow from the cupboard, along with a handful of wet wipes. 

For a few minutes, he wiped and pulled at the covers so that the two Rafaels were on opposite sides of the bed, leaving a narrow channel in the middle for Sonny to fit himself in. 

The Rafael on his left fell asleep almost immediately, his hand loosely holding on to Sonny’s, an intimate circuit point. 

The Rafael on his right though was still wide awake, his expression full of uncertainty as Sonny settled himself in between them. 

“You okay?” Sonny asked quietly, brushing the ADA’s hair back. 

“What if we can’t fix this Sonny?” Rafael said, his voice calm but Sonny could hear apprehensive undercurrent running beneath it. “What if it’s the two of us permanently? How are we going to explain this to everyone? To our families? To Liv?” 

Trust Rafael to verbalise what Sonny had been pondering over the entire evening. But after all that had happened, he felt a bit more certain of the answer now. 

“Then I would be the luckiest guy on earth Rafael, because I get to be in a relationship with the both of you. I get to love… both of you,” Sonny said softly, with a kiss to Rafael’s palm.

“Sap,” Rafael laughed softly. 

“Besides, when the shop opens on Monday, I will get an answer, and we can sort all this out,” Sonny said determinedly. 

“I suppose,” Rafael muttered, yawning as he closed his eyes. 

For a moment, Sonny just lay there, listening to the breathing of his lovers in stereo, allowing it to lull him to sleep. 

***

When Monday finally rolled around, Sonny had managed to work himself up into a good righteous snit. 

He walked into the shop the minute it opened fully prepared to give the shopkeeper a good dressing down for everything that he had put him and Barba through. 

Only to come to a screeching halt when he saw that the person behind the desk wasn’t the beautiful man he had met previously. 

“Hello, may I help you?” 

“Sorry, I am looking for Toshiya,” Sonny said authoritatively, pulling back his jacket to reveal his badge as he handed over his business card.

The man didn’t flinch though, his sharp, handsome features unperturbed as he glanced at Carisi’s credentials. But judging by the creep of what looked like mob tattoos across the back of his hands, it was clear that this man wouldn’t be cowed by law enforcement bluster.

“Toshiya isn’t here today, but I am Kaoru, the co-owner. How can I help you Detective Carisi?” 

“Last week he gave me this,” Carisi said, putting the box of incense in front of Kaoru. “Said it would help me sleep.” 

Carisi felt a snap of satisfaction when his explanation managed to elicit a response from the stone-faced man in front of him. A flicker in his eyes, strong and bright like a lightning flash before disappearing completely. 

Putting both hands on the table, Carisi leaned forward in a variation of his classic interrogation stance. 

“What are you all mixed up with in here? Drugs? What is in this stuff? Acid? Magic mushrooms?” 

Kaoru actually looked offended. 

“There is nothing of that sort in this Detective. It is simply incense from my hometown in Japan, a formula that has been guarded fiercely for almost a century.” 

“Really?” Carisi said disbelievingly. 

“That we also have a permit for,” Kaoru replied, pulling out a piece of paper from a binder, which he handed to Carisi. 

Taking a quick glance at the ingredients list, Carisi frowned when he realised that Kaoru was telling the truth. 

“Saying that, this formula can be a little strong for those who aren’t used to it. This is what monks burn when they want to meditate.” 

Kaoru brought out another box from underneath the table and pushed it towards Carisi.

“Please accept this instead, it should give you the effect you were searching for.”

Carisi recoiled as if it were full of snakes. 

“No thanks. I suppose you won’t mind then if I ask the local precinct about you?” Carisi said with his best poker face.

Kaoru shrugged, but the way he squared his shoulders brought to mind a general facing an enemy frontline. 

“Feel free Detective Carisi. I do apologise for my husband’s choice of a gift though. He has an odd sense of humour sometimes.”

Carisi blinked at Kaoru’s very strange turn of phrase, said in an almost exasperated tone. But Carisi had been doing this long enough to know when his bluff had been called, and turned to leave. 

“And besides Detective. If they were hallucinations, they couldn’t possibly be real, could they?” 

The snakelike tone in Kaoru’s voice bolted Sonny’s feet to the floor. But when he turned around, he found the other man’s face an impassive mask.

Did he know? 

When Sonny had woken up the next morning, relief had flooded him when he found only one Barba sleeping by his side. His doppelganger had disappeared without a trace, leaving only his sweatpants and Sonny’s Fordham shirt in a crumpled heap at the foot of the bed. 

Rafael had been ecstatic of course, once he got over the disappointment that there was only one of him to do work now. But while he still remembered everything that happened when Sonny questioned him, the memories were opaque, shrouded in a cloud of incense smoke. 

“This is not over,” Sonny muttered as he strode out the door, adding this place to his mental rolodex as one to keep an eye on. 

Once he was sure that Carisi was gone, Kaoru’s shoulders instantly relaxed as he let out a slow breath through his nose. 

Grimacing, he turned around to pull back the curtain behind the counter to reveal Toshiya leaning against the wall, a mango popsicle in his mouth that only partly obscured the smile on his face. 

“Totchi! How many times have I told you to stop giving out that shit Kyo keeps cooking up! You are gonna get us in trouble one of these days,” Kaoru scolded. 

Totchi pouted. 

“Oh hush Kaoru, it was a harmless little taster to give Detective Carisi some clarity. He deserves it, he is one of the good guys.” 

Toshiya waved his popsicle at his husband as if for emphasis. 

“Plus, judging by his reaction, it seems to have worked,” Toshiya said with a small smirk that was pure self-satisfaction. 

“I hope you are right, because I am not going to defend you to the guys if we have to move again,” Kaoru muttered sourly. But he smiled when Toshiya leaned over to give him a sugary sticky kiss on the cheek. 

“Don’t worry, it was just a bit of fun,” Toshiya said, his irises sparkling purple with mischief. “And I have a feeling this won’t be the last we see of him.”


	2. - Rafael's Resolution -

***

_The beautiful devil on my bed_  
_Tempt me by masturbation_

***

If anyone were to ask Rafael Barba for his list of grievances, many would have been pleasantly surprised to find that it was fairly short. 

It ran from petty things like cold coffee to major bugbears, such as judges who decided their beliefs were more important than upholding the law. 

But smack down the middle was when people were late. 

And someone was late meeting him for lunch. On a Friday, when all he wanted to do was head home and forget about putting bad guys in jail for the weekend. 

To make matters worse, he couldn’t really admonish the aforesaid person for making him wait because it was Rita. Who wanted to treat him to lunch so that he would be forced to listen to her bitch about her last scumbag client. 

“Why are we meeting in Chinatown again?” Rafael had asked her over the phone earlier that morning. 

“Because there is this dim sum restaurant I am dying to try. Plus, didn’t you mention that the guy you are dating is head-over-heels in love with salted egg custard buns?” 

Fuck, Sonny did love those buns. 

“Speaking of which, who is it again you are dating Rafael?” 

Oh no, Rita wasn’t going to get him that way. 

“Bye Rita, see you at one,” Barba said curtly, hanging up just in time to hear her squawk of protest. 

Apparently it wasn’t just her client that Rita wanted to talk about. Saying that, she was definitely in good company. Liv had also been on his case about introducing her to the man in his life. 

Luckily she had missed Carisi swallowing his coffee the wrong way when she had asked Barba this in the squad room. 

Glancing at his watch, he saw that he had about 20 minutes before meeting Rita at the restaurant. And given how popular the place was, they wouldn’t seat an incomplete party. 

Maybe that was the other reason why Barba was so testy. This week it was his turn to host his and Carisi’s Friday night dinner, and he was acutely aware that not only could his apartment do with a quick clean, but that he was also running low on lube. 

It was nice though, after years of getting into relationships that went nowhere, to actually plan for someone, to anticipate them coming over. 

Now, only if he could get rid of the feeling that it was one day all going to blow up in his face. 

“Bugger Rita,” Barba groused, taking a quick look at his surroundings. There was no cafe for him to sit and have a coffee, no shop that looked interesting enough for him to even consider going in to browse. 

He was so close to going back to the dim sum place and getting a seat for one, when he happened to turn his head and a whiff of something caught him by the throat, filling his nose. 

Barba could almost taste it, sweet but with a definite sour green undernote. It cut through all of the pollution, filling his lungs with thick syrupy perfume. But instead of overwhelming him, it just made him crave more. 

At first he couldn’t see any possible source for the smell, until he happened to spot a hidden door, covered in carved wooden flowers and decorated with two small potted orange trees, the frail boughs heavy with clusters of mandarins. 

His curiosity piqued, Barba stepped through the door and into the welcoming cool dark of the shop. 

Yes, the smell definitely originated from here. 

And sitting there behind the front counter was probably one of the prettiest women that Barba had ever come across. 

She had a mass of copper corkscrew curls framing her oval face, emphasising her large, soft brown eyes and rosebud mouth, her lips tinted red like a tourmaline. 

She reminded Barba of a living doll, a point driven home by what she was wearing; a variation of a Victorian dress with a full petticoat skirt and a cinched bodice. 

“Welcome, may I help you?” 

And a voice that was definitely, unmistakably male. 

“Sorry, just taking a look around,” Barba said with a cough, covering up his surprise. Luckily the pretty man didn’t seem to notice his near faux pas. 

“Please, don’t apologise,” he said, coming out from around the counter. “I am Shinya and I own this store. As you can see, we sell incense from around the world, but our speciality is incense from Japan.” 

The minute Shinya said the word incense, a memory stirred in Rafael. An incident from a month ago when Sonny had brought home some freaky incense, which had led to a very surreal weekend. 

But surely it couldn’t be the same shop? There were probably hundreds of these sorts of places in Chinatown, what were the chances that Barba would stumble on the same one?

On top of that, Barba knew his boyfriend. Sonny would have definitely mentioned the owner being a stunning redhead in a dress. 

“Maybe if you tell me your concerns, then I can recommend you something?” Shinya asked, primly folding his hands. 

Barba gave a dry chuckle. 

“Sure, you have anything for insecurity?” 

“Of course,” Shinya answered immediately, without the slightest hesitation. 

Barba’s eyes narrowed as he gave the shop owner a look, his skepticism probably etched into his features. But Barba could see that Shinya was dead serious, with no trace of his earlier easy smile. 

“You must be joking.” 

“On the contrary, insecurity comes from a lot of places. Things that burned us in the past, or fears that we allow to have room and board in our heads. What we are offering is something that can help clear those spaces a bit.” 

Moving over to a shelf, Shinya picked up a green bottle and uncorked it, flooding the room with the scent of lily of the valley. One inhale, and suddenly Barba was struck with the urge to call his mother. 

“Smell short-circuits memory. Find the right one, and you can find your centre again,” Shinya said, putting the bottle back. 

Barba was a realist, he didn’t subscribe to any theories about horoscopes or aura. But something in the way Shinya spoke, melodic and persuasive, managed to make his cynical heart move a fraction. 

Something that Shinya picked up on instantly. 

“I’ve got something that will suit you,” Shinya said. “Die!” 

Barba jumped as a distinctly unprincess-like bellow came out of Shinya’s mouth, once more upending his earlier impression of him. Clearly this guy had some punk in him along with the lolita. 

“Stop shouting Shinya! What do you want?” a tall man answered, emerging from the bowels of the shop. He stopped when he saw Barba standing there, a wide grin slowly spreading across his face. 

It was like a snap of the fingers this instantaneous flush of attraction. The guy had large handsome features topped off with long blonde hair and a killer smile. If he wasn't currently with Sonny, Rafael would have definitely been asking for this guy’s number. 

“Hi,” Die said flirtatiously. “Welcome to our shop, how can I...ow! That _hurt_ Shin-chan,” Die whined, rubbing his shoulder where Shinya had soundly punched him. 

“I already served him Die, now go get our guest the incense made from the _kankoubai_ , the one with the _shiraume_ ,” Shinya ordered. At first Die glared at the other man’s orders, only to back away meekly when Shinya glared back. 

“Excuse my boyfriend,” Shinya said with the air of a long-suffering partner. “Will that be all?” 

“Uh,” Barba was at a rare loss for words, wondering how he had managed to walk into this amateur domestic comedy skit. “Do you have anything to make a person less annoying and more agreeable?”

“Oh yes we do. It is very popular,” Shinya said, pulling out a small green box from underneath the table. “Shall I put it in a separate bag?” 

“Yes please,” Barba replied with a grin as he handed over his credit card. It would be perfect for Rita. 

“There you go,” Die said, suddenly reappearing with a paper bag, which he handed to Rafael with a wink. Barba responded with a half-smile as he thanked the both of them before exiting the shop. 

Shinya held his composure unti the door closed, only to have it crack when he heard Die snicker behind him. 

“Die, did you add something to the incense?” Shinya asked quietly, dangerously. 

“Oh come on Shinya. A guy that gorgeous is insecure? It has to be love trouble. So I figured a little nudge was in order,” Die shrugged carelessly. 

Shinya felt the vein in his forehead start to throb.

“Nudge?” 

“I sprinkled a little of Kyo’s latest concoction.”

“Die!” 

“It won’t last more than 24-hours Shinya, promise,” Die said, crossing his heart in a mock contrite gesture. “Who knows, he might enjoy it.” 

With that, Die cackled and walked away as Shinya put his head in his hands. 

“I have a bad feeling about this.” 

***

Despite Rita’s best efforts to delay and distract him, Barba managed to get back to his apartment just before eight. Which gave him about an hour before Sonny was due to arrive. 

Rolling up his sleeves, Barba got quite a bit done by the time Sonny walked through his door. He had put away his books, changed his sheets and placed a brand new pump-bottle of Astroglide in the side drawer. 

He even had just enough time to unpack the incense he had bought. As delicious as it smelt in the box, Barba was unprepared for how much the smell would intensify once lit. Like floral, overripe plums, the coil emitting a barely visible blue smoke as it burnt down in the ceramic censer bowl. 

“Hello,” Sonny said the minute his coat was off, affectionately pulling Barba closer by his pink striped suspenders for a welcome kiss. Rafael always acted like he just barely tolerated the detective’s need for physical reassurance, even as it made a quiver of pleasure travel up his spine. 

“Hey Carisi, dinner’s ready.” 

“Dim sum?” Carisi asked with a questioning look. 

“Calhoun,” Barba answered, which made Carasi go “ah” and pull up a seat. 

Rita may have been a royal pain in his ass, but the woman had taste. The food had been good enough for Barba to order indiscriminately off its menu some dishes he thought Sonny would like. 

Carisi clearly had no complaints, practically espousing poetry over those damn custard buns as he gave the ADA a foot rub. 

“It’s like if angels decided to come in your mouth.” 

It wasn’t Shakespeare, but it was prose Sonny Carisi-style, which meant it had a charm all its own. 

“Do you think we should be doing more?” Barba suddenly asked, the Macallan 18 he had been sipping on loosening the glue of his thoughts. 

“Oh?” Sonny said, suggestively rubbing his knuckles into the ball of Rafael’s foot, which made him let out an inadvertent moan. 

“No, not that Carisi,” Barba said peevishly. “I mean, this is all we do on Friday nights. Shouldn’t we be watching a movie or a show maybe? Aren’t you bored just staying home with an old man?” 

“Stop it,” Sonny said, a hard edge to his voice as he pulled Rafael closer by the collar for a kiss. Although all his instincts were telling him to fight it, Barba allowed himself to accept the comfort being offered. 

“Who said I was talking about myself Sonny?” Rafael said, accompanying his jab with a light tug to his lover’s silver hair. Sonny chortled. 

“We can do something if you want, but don’t feel like you have to go out of your way Barba. I am perfectly happy doing nothing. But if you aren’t…” 

That was the problem, Rafael was. 

Barba knew who he was, and he knew who Carisi was too. It wasn’t that he doubted the sincerity of Carisi’s feelings, rather the longevity. 

It made Barba wonder if Carisi would ever come to resent him one day for taking away his choices. 

Without warning, something close to weariness settled in his bones, making his eyelids heavy. His subconscious wondered, when did his apartment start smelling like wildflowers in the rain? 

“Time for bed,” Carisi said quietly, switching off the TV. Barba nodded as the both headed to his bedroom, before taking off his clothes one by one, putting some on hangers and others in dry cleaning bags. 

The whisky must have been stronger than he realised, because once he had brushed his teeth and washed his face, he fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow. 

A sleep that was almost dreamless, except for the moments when he felt like he was floating through a glossy midnight blue sky, weaving his way through the stars. 

***

“Rafi, wake up.”

He didn’t want to. 

“Rafael, it’s time to get up.” 

What on earth was Sonny doing riding a multicoloured unicorn? And he was doing so without a saddle, which bothered Rafael immensely. Surely doing that would hurt your privates. 

“Barba, seriously! Wake up!” 

Okay, that finally managed to pierce the fog of sleep that Rafael was in. He slowly opened his eyes, only to regret the decision a minute later when the ceiling light burned his corneas. 

“God you do sleep like a log Rafael.” 

Rafael shook his head as he tried to focus on the familiar blue eyes talking to him. Only to rub his eyes when he thought he was seeing double, because he swore he was talking to two identical pairs of eyes. 

He was about to rub his eyes again when Sonny caught his wrist. 

“Rafael! Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to do that?” Sonny scolded. 

“Don’t be so hard on him!” 

Rafael’s eyes widened as the veil was finally lifted. Unless he was very much mistaken, there were currently two Sonnys sitting before him on the bed. Two Sonnys looking at him expectantly. 

“Well, fuck,” was all he could say. 

“Yup, that is about the right reaction,” said the Sonny that was to his right, dressed in an oversized NY Islanders hockey jersey. 

“Don’t tell me there is another me somewhere?” Rafael asked with a groan, leaning against the headboard. 

“Nope, apparently it’s my turn now to get cloned.” This came from the Sonny sitting at the foot of the bed, who had gotten custody of the Mets T-shirt. 

“I can’t believe this has happened to us _again_!” Barba said, more than a little miffed. “What weird shit did you bring home this time Carisi?” 

“Hey this is your place, not mine Barba. Don’t tell me, you also bought some incense from a mysterious shop in Chinatown,” Mets Sonny said this with a laugh. 

Only to have that laugh abruptly cut short like a record scratch when he saw a slightly guilty look flit across Barba’s face. 

“You didn’t,” Islanders Sonny spoke this time, the blood visibly draining from his face. Mets Sonny just face-palmed. 

“How was I supposed to know it was the same shop? And hey, you never once mentioned that it was run by a beautiful guy in period dress. I mean that would have been a useful descriptor,” Barba said defensively, crossing his arms. 

“Barba, have you been _smoking_ the incense? I have no idea what you are talking about!” Islanders Sonny said in obvious frustration. 

“Don’t talk to him like that,” Mets Sonny snapped. 

“You… both of you, just shut up!” 

Barba put his head in his hands as he slowly counted to ten. If it wasn’t for the throbbing at the base of his skull, he could have sworn this was a dream. 

“Why are we arguing about this?” Barba said calmly. “If it follows the same pattern, then it shouldn’t last beyond a day.” 

Both Sonnys nodded. 

“Let’s hope it does. The good thing is that we were supposed to spend the weekend here anyway. At least neither of us need to head back to our apartment,” Mets Sonny said. 

“Gonna go shower,” Islanders Sonny said, dropping a kiss to Barba’s forehead before getting up. 

Rafael saw Mets Sonny’s eyes narrow a fraction before purposefully moving a bit closer. But other than that, Barba was having a hard time gauging his mood. 

“Now it’s you who is suspiciously unperturbed Carisi,” Barba said, cocking his head to the side. Mets Carisi shrugged as he moved even closer so that their thighs were touching. 

“It’s like you said the last time, it’s just weird. I can tell what he is feeling but not what he is thinking. I can sense that he is annoyed, but I can’t tell with what exactly.”

“With me maybe?” Barba said casually. Sonny shot him a look, but instead of responding, he just cradled the older man’s face in the crook of his arm so he could kiss the side of his face, all the way from the jawline to the greying hair at his temple. 

“It will be fine Rafi,” Sonny said. 

And he was right, to a certain extent. Ignoring the fact that there were two of them, it was turning out to be a fairly regular Saturday. Sonny insisted on cooking, because he absolutely loved Barba’s huge kitchen. It was probably one of the reasons why he had asked Barba out in the first place. 

Barba didn’t mind though, and he was finding it highly amusing to watch the two Sonnys try to out cook each other. For some reason, there seemed to be some element of competition between Islanders Sonny and Mets Sonny. 

And this almost bizarre compulsion to impress Barba. 

But he drew the line when Islanders Sonny attempted to feed him eggs on a fork, while very pointedly looking at his doppelganger. 

“Put that fork down Sonny, otherwise the next place it's going is your crotch.” 

However, because Barba was fair, he did glare at Mets Sonny when he snickered a little bit too loudly. 

In fact the only thing that shattered their peace was a call at around three pm, while they were all reading in the living room. It only took Barba one look at Carisi’s face to know who it was. 

“Hey Lieu, what’s up?” It was Mets Sonny that had the misfortune of taking the call, given that Islanders Sonny was in the bathroom. “Okay, got it, will head in.” 

“What is it?” Islanders Sonny asked when he came back into the room. 

“Possible assault. Sounds pretty straightforward, but I am on swing shift this weekend. Sorry Rafi, I will try and get back as soon as possible,” Mets Sonny said apologetically, plugging his phone in to quick charge while he changed. 

“Well, technically Sonny, you aren’t really leaving me,” Barba said thoughtfully, his gaze shifting between his lovers. Islanders Sonny grinned and plopped himself next to the ADA, putting an arm around him which he promptly shook off.

“Hang on, why does he get to stay?” Mets Sonny asked, a bit too petulantly for Barba’s liking. 

“Sonny, you can’t both go in,” Barba said, in that know-it-all tone that drove Carisi up the wall on occasion. 

“Rafi is right you know,” Islanders Sonny said, purposefully toying with the hem of Barba’s polo shirt. 

“You prefer him don’t you?” Mets Sonny said, with an almost childish pout. 

“Sonny, they are both you!” Barba said incredulously. 

“Aha! Now you finally get what I had to go through when there were two of you Barba. See how annoying it can be?” Islanders Sonny said, in a manner that indicated that he was trying to get Barba on his side. 

At the moment though, Barba was ready to break up with the both of them. 

“I am not getting involved in this,” Barba said, suddenly standing up and shaking off Islanders Sonny’s attempts to placate him. “You both sort this out on your own. I am going into my study and you both better not be bothering me with any more of this bullshit.” 

The last thing Rafael heard before he closed the door behind him was one of the Sonny’s muttering, “This is all your fault” to the other. 

Barba stayed in his study even as he listened to the noises going on outside. Muffled splashes as someone took a shower, the familiar rustle of a three-piece suit being put on, followed by the muted thumps of shoes. 

But even after it got quiet, nobody bothered him, which Barba was actually grateful for. It gave him time to finish some work and cool down. Making him come to the realisation that there were worse things than having two handsome men fight over wanting to spend time with him. 

Yet, he still felt like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers, a feeling that didn’t go away no matter what he did. 

“I thought you quit.” 

Barba jumped when Sonny decided to join him on his private balcony, having decided that leaving Rafael alone came with a definite three hour limit. 

“I have,” Barba said, blowing out a streak of white smoke as he glanced at the other man. 

Ah, it was Mets Sonny that had gotten the short end of the straw. 

“I blame Rita, she put one in my briefcase for some reason. Filthy habit,” Barba said. Islanders Sonny chuckled. 

“Yeah it is,” he said, plucking the cigarette from Rafael’s fingers and taking a drag before stubbing it out. 

“So how did you decide who went?” 

“Rock, paper, scissors,” Sonny said with a lopsided grin. “But I figured that you needed some time alone, so I’ve just been studying.” 

“Thanks,” Barba said quietly. They stood side by side in silence, content in each other’s company as night inched its way over Manhattan. 

“The last time this happened, you asked me if there was anything on my mind,” Sonny said, turning his body towards the ADA. “Now it is my turn to ask you the same.” 

Barba faltered as he recalled that conversation. The difference was, it wouldn’t take much for Sonny to open up, while the reverse wasn’t as true. 

“I just don’t have the best track record with relationships, that’s all,” Rafael finally said, staring down at his interlocked fingers. He blinked when Sonny put a hand on top of his. 

“I am not going to press you Rafael, because I know that doesn’t work with you. But you should know by now after, what? Three months of dating? That I don’t do short-term,” Sonny said gently. 

Tilting Rafael’s face up, the ADA closed his eyes as Sonny gave him a kiss, a familiar gesture that was implicit in its meaning. But Barba completely understood. 

When they pulled apart, Rafael’s insides warmed from the look in Sonny’s eyes. 

It lasted all of 30 seconds, but it felt so necessary. 

Then something shifted, and Sonny’s grin suddenly turned wolfish. 

“Wanna have some fun?” Sonny said huskily. 

“What kind?” Barba asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“The kind that involves that wonderful cock of yours,” Sonny said, pulling Rafael back into his study. 

While at first he rolled his eyes, Rafael’s expression turned more serious when Sonny maneuvered him so that he was sitting on the edge of his desk. Dropping to his knees, Sonny sighed as he pulled down the waistband of Barba’s fancy track pants. 

“May I?” Sonny asked almost reverently, rubbing his face over the fabric of Rafael’s black briefs. It was such a turn on to Rafael that even after countless nights in his bed, Sonny still asked for permission. 

As if Rafael would ever deny him. 

“Yeah,” he whispered. Locking his elbows, Rafael leaned back when Sonny started mouthing the outline of his dick, wetting the fabric in spots as he softly scratched at his lover’s sensitive inner thighs. 

“Lift your ass a bit baby,” Sonny said, pulling at the track pants until they were bunched up around his knees. Another couple of tugs and Rafael’s cock was free, semi-hard but already glistening at the tip. 

Sonny took the shaft into his mouth and rolled his tongue around the sensitive flare of the pink head, the skin soft to his lips even as he sucked it to full hardness. 

The sounds Rafael was making got louder and more unrestrained the more intensely Sonny fellated him. He hissed when teeth accidentally nicked him, but moaned long and deep when he felt Sonny’s nose at his stomach. 

“Harder Sonny.” 

“You have to stand for that,” Sonny said, after pulling himself off Rafael’s cock with a slick sound. 

Nodding, Rafael took off his track pants and underwear so that he was naked from the waist down in front of the detective. Sonny wasted no time diving back in, alternating the speed and depth of his licks and sucks. 

“A bit more Sonny, then I want you to fuck me. I want to come as you fuck me,” Rafeal said, his words wispy as he buried his hands in Sonny’s hair. 

“Yeah babe no worries, will bang you so hard you won’t be able to walk for a week,” Sonny made this dirty promise as he purposefully rubbed at his lover’s back entrance. 

“Oh no, I am _not_ missing out on this.” 

Oh, Mets Sonny was back. 

In two long strides Mets Sonny ditched his coat and tie, so that he could stand behind Rafael, his hands already greedily slipping underneath the ADA’s shirt so that he could stroke the luscious curve of his belly and palm his nipples. 

“I’m back,” Sonny said hoarsely, tipping Rafael’s head back so he could kiss him. Opening his mouth to bite his tongue, which made the older man’s hips thrust involuntarily. 

Islanders Sonny glared at his counterpart for taking Rafael’s attention away from him. So he doubled his efforts, bobbing his head faster which made his lover pull at his hair more. 

Mets Sonny took that as a challenge. 

“Ever since you did this to me the last time, I wanted to do it to you,” Mets Sonny murmured. He lowered himself to the floor until he was eye-level with Rafael’s ass, parted his cheeks and broadly licked his quivering hole. 

“Shit!” Rafael cursed, pleasure dancing across his skin at being rimmed so suddenly. Encouraged by the sound, the Sonny behind him pushed in deeper so he could breach the muscle, groaning when he felt Rafael clench around the tip of his tongue. 

By now, Islanders Sonny was getting massively annoyed that his blowjob was getting ignored, so he added his hand to the mix, alternately sucking and kneading Rafael’s balls, which were getting heavier by the moment. 

For Rafael, the pleasure was near overwhelming as he was assaulted from both ends. A step back forced more of Sonny’s tongue inside him, while any shift forward made his lover deep throat him. 

“Oh you are really into this aren’t you Rafi? Someone sucking your dick as I eat you out?” 

His orgasm caught him by surprise, slamming into his chest, causing him to ejaculate creamy white ribbons down his lover’s throat as Sonny remained tongue-deep in his ass. 

Rafael felt his knees give out, with the only things holding him up being his hands on Sonny’s shoulders and Sonny’s strong hands on his trembling thighs. 

Roughly pushing both of them away, Rafael propped himself up against his desk as he tried to get the world to stop swimming in front of his eyes. 

“So?” 

Rafael’s ears were still buzzing, which was probably why he didn’t fully understand what he was being asked. 

“So, what?” 

“Which one of us did better?” Mets Sonny asked, his arms crossed. 

“You want a report card?” 

“Oh please, it was so clear that it was my blowjob that made him hard,” Islanders Sonny said cockily. 

“But he came like a freight train when I started rimming him,” Mets Sonny retorted. 

“How is it we are back to this again?!” Rafael exploded, his afterglow completely gone in the wake of this ludicrous argument. He felt a swipe of satisfaction when he saw both Sonnys recoil in fear. 

“First of all, I didn’t want to come that way. I wanted to come with a dick in my ass,” Rafael said, tapping his foot. “And yet you bastards just went ahead and made me come anyway.” 

Both had the decency to look sheepish. 

“We can still do that,” Mets Sonny said meekly. 

“No, you both need to be punished,” Rafael said sternly. He smiled inwardly when he saw apprehension cross both their faces, but there was no mistaking the other emotion edging it. 

Anticipation. 

“Go wait in the living room, I will call you when I am ready.” 

Rafael actually already had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do, but figured that it would do both Sonnys good to stew over it a bit. Especially when he decided to just do away with clothes altogether, and just walk around the apartment naked. 

“Rafi, this is cruel and unusual punishment,” Mets Sonny whined, his blue eyes wide and pitiful, which made Islanders Sonny give a derisive snort. It almost made Rafael want to go over and give him a kiss to mollify him. 

Almost, but he didn’t. 

So he took his time, putting out the lube and a strip of condoms on the bed and stacking his pillows. After a thought, he also brought out the vibrator he knew Sonny had a secret fondness for, black and sleek, with just enough curve to reach his prostate. 

And just to twist the knife a bit more, Rafael heated up the last of Sonny’s favourite custard buns. Took it out on a plate to the living, and proceeded to eat it slowly in front of them. 

That even got Islanders Sonny, who Rafael had come to realise was the manifestation of his lover’s more hard-nosed side, to let out a plaintive sound. 

Rafael took great joy in making exaggerated moans of pleasure as he bit into the pastry, the creamy burst of yellow drenching his mouth in oily salty-sweetness. When there were only two bites left, he sauntered over to his lovers, and fed them each a portion. 

He even felt generous enough to let them lick his fingers, even if they did so with more vigour than necessary. 

“Bedroom. Both of you on the bed, next to each other.” 

As they scrambled to follow his instructions, Rafael settled himself in his favourite armchair, that he had positioned to directly face the bed. Mets Sonny to his right, Islanders Sonny on his left. 

An Angel and the Devil on each shoulder.

“Lose the shirts.” 

Rafael palmed himself at the enticing sight laid out before him. Sonny in duplicate, taking up all the space and contrasting with his burgundy sheets. It was enough to make a man’s cock stir. 

The ADA allowed himself a soft sigh at the expanse of pale skin and long limbs, and eyes that were looking at him like he was the only thing that mattered. 

It was almost impossible to tell them apart now, save for the clear difference in how they carried themselves. Islanders Sonny’s eyes had a clear challenge reflected in his irises, while Mets Sonny bit his bottom lip in trepidation. 

“It is going to take a bit to get me going again. So why don’t the both of you put on a show,” Rafael said suggestively, opening his legs so that he was on full display, his cock resting on his thigh. 

“What is it exactly that you want us to do Rafael?” Met Sonny asked quietly. 

Rafael shrugged. 

“Be creative,” Rafael said, leaning further back into his chair as he rested his chin on the heel of his palm. Essentially getting himself comfortable for his own private peep show. 

Both Sonnys shared a look, before tentatively touching themselves. Simple, perfunctory strokes at first, and then a bit bolder, doing things that Rafael knew Sonny liked. 

He knew Sonny loved having his nipples rubbed, the tips pinched and pulled to hard peaks. He knew how Sonny always lost it when Rafael gently tugged his balls and sank his teeth into his inner thigh. 

But there was still a touch of jittery nerves about them. Yet mixed in was a definite frisson of excitement, a dark thrill at doing something so out of the norm. 

“You can do better than that Sonny. Come on _carino_ , show me everything,” Rafael said, seductive in his encouragement. He bit his thumb as Mets Sonny obediently put his hand on his thighs so he could spread himself wider. 

Islanders Sonny though stopped to watch his doppelganger, a thoughtful look on his face. Reaching for the lube, he held Rafael’s gaze as he pumped a generous amount on his hand, to the point where it was dripping down his wrist in silvery trails. 

“A show, you said?” Islanders Sonny said softly, intimately. 

“What are you... _oh_.”

Rafael sucked in a breath when Islanders Sonny put his hand on his mirror image’s prick, wrapping his fingers around it so that he could wank him with even strokes. 

The reaction was immediate. Mets Sonny’s hips jerked at the sensation, alien and yet so familiar. Of course his other self would know where exactly to touch, where to put on the pressure and where to ease off. 

“You getting hard Rafael?” Islanders Sonny asked, his voice raspy now. 

“No,” Rafael lied, using every inch of his willpower to not touch himself. To not take notice of the growing wet spot on his upper thigh. 

“You sure?” Mets Sonny said breathily. “Well then…” 

It was now Islanders Sonny’s turn to moan, his turn to get a handjob from his identical self. Now it was Mets Sonny that was the aggressor, striving to get some kind of reaction. 

“Stop!” 

Both Sonnys froze at the command, pulling back so that Rafael had a clear view of their equally hard cocks, swaying heavily between their legs. 

“This is not really punishment is it?” Rafael said, his voice gravelly as he allowed himself a fleeting touch to his dick. 

“You are more than welcome to spank us Rafi,” Islanders Sonny said, grabbing a handful of his counterpart’s ass and giving it a squeeze. 

Rafael smirked. 

“That would definitely not be a punishment for you,” Rafael responded, the twitch in his lips the only crack in his unwavering facade. “I want to fuck one of you.” 

“Which one?” Mets Sonny asked, sucking his pre-cum off his fingers. 

“You decide, flip a coin.” 

Islanders Sonny nodded and reached for a coin from the bowl on Rafael’s nightstand. 

“Call it,” he said, flicking it in the air. “Heads.” 

“Tails.” 

“Heads it is,” Islanders Sonny said looking down. Straightening himself up, he turned to Rafael and said “I want you inside me Rafi.”

“You do?” Rafael said quietly, a finger against his temple. 

“Because getting fucked by you should be a prize.” 

Even when uttering something so obscene, Sonny still somehow managed to make it sound sweet.

“Can’t say I disagree with myself,” Mets Sonny said with a grin. 

“Then open him up Sonny, get him ready for me,” Rafael said, with a nod to the vibrator. Mets Sonny eagerly grabbed it and covered it with lube, while Islanders Sonny arranged the pillow so he could lean back with his legs spread. 

Placing himself on the side so that Rafael could have an unobstructed view, Sonny slowly started to ease the vibrator into his other self, shallowly dipping in and out, stretching out his asshole. 

“Fuck I didn’t think it would be this hot,” Mets Sonny said, almost in awe. 

“Why is it hot Sonny?” Rafael asked, his carefully curated control starting to slip away. Without thinking, his hand dropped past his balls so he could lightly finger himself.

“Because I know how this vibe feels. Hard and smooth,” Mets Sonny said. “How it fills me up perfectly.” 

Islanders Sonny keened when he felt the vibrator penetrate him fully, the flared rubber base flat against his ass. 

“And when you do this.”

Without preamble, Sonny twirled the base of the vibe in a circle, which made his doppelganger grab the sheets so hard they almost tore. 

“It feels fucking amazing,” Sonny said hoarsely, pushing the vibrator in and out. 

Ever since he had woken up to two of him, Rafael had learned to lean into his voyeurism kink. A fetish that was hammered home by how hard he was now, his cock so stiff that it actually, physically ached. 

Suddenly he was not satisfied by just watching anymore. 

“Move,” Rafael barked. Nodding, Mets Sonny dutifully shifted next to his counterpart, his hand loosely fisted around his own cock. But he had left the vibrator where it was, he had an inkling that Rafael wanted to do that himself. 

What he didn’t expect was for Rafael to suddenly suck his dick. A quick and dirty blowjob, before he moved on to Islanders Sonny’s prick to do exactly the same. 

Mets Sonny actually had to count backwards in his head to stop himself from coming. 

“Not gonna last Rafael, please.” Islanders Sonny was not above begging now, his earlier cockiness lost in his need to be filled, to be screwed into the mattress. 

Just as well, Rafael wasn’t that far off either. Tearing open the condom wrapper with his teeth, he rolled it down his cock while at the same time pulling the vibrator out of the other man. 

Tossing it aside, Rafael poured an almost indecent amount of Astroglide over himself and Sonny’s stretched hole before lining himself up. He took a pause to steady himself, before pushing in until he was fully seated. 

Islanders Sonny bit his lip until it was bruised. Rafael was much bigger than the vibe, and thicker too, but he always loved that stretch. That lance of pain pleasure that heightened all his senses. 

“Move Rafi,” Sonny said, letting out a high-pitched moan when Rafael did exactly that. Quick, aggressive thrusts that lifted him off the bed. 

“Oh look at you,” Sonny said, with so much yearning it almost hurt. He tried to match the tempo at which he was jerking off to the pace of Rafael’s fucking, when he happened to notice the discarded bottle of lube. 

The smile that spread across his face was heavy with sin. 

“What are you doing?” Rafael asked sharply, his rhythm stuttering when he felt Sonny wetly rubbing his hole, falling forward when he was penetrated with two fingers up to the webbing. 

“Just keep fucking him...well, me,” Sonny said playfully, licking the point of Rafael’s sensitive earlobes. 

Rafael inhaled through his teeth when he felt a pair of strong hands at his waist, stopping his movements. But he let out a throaty growl when he felt Sonny’s thick prick slide inside him, pushing past the initial resistance until their bodies were flush together. 

It was a bit too fast, but the bite of pain at least helped to tamp down his need to come at that very moment. 

Then Sonny rocked his pelvis, brushing the other man’s prostate and Rafael felt like he might pass out. 

“Oh my God, he is fucking you isn’t he?” The Sonny beneath him gasped this out in between breaths. For some reason, hearing it said out loud just made it even hotter. 

“This is what you wanted isn’t it Rafael? To be in the middle of the both of us? That is why you fingered yourself earlier. You wanted to fuck me, as I fucked you,” Sonny said, emphasising his words with a deep drive of his hips. 

“Yes, yes Sonny. I wanted to fuck you. I wanted to be fucked,” Rafeal cried out, practically slamming into his prone lover at this point. 

It was sloppy at first, as all three men tried to settle on some semblance of a rhythm. Every thrust Sonny gave, Rafael matched, allowing him to fuck with a kind of power that his lover had never felt before. 

But Rafael felt that he was the one in the most perfect position. Moving back made him take Sonny’s cock even deeper, putting even more pressure on his sweet spot. Moving forward just drove his cock into endless heat. 

It was too much. It was not enough. It was everything. 

“Sonny, Sonny…” Rafael moaned. 

“Come Rafael, you fuck us both so well,” the Sonny behind him muttered words of encouragement, twisting his face around so he could kiss him with so much force his lip almost tore. 

“Yeah, yeah, make me come baby,” the Sonny in front of him urged, pushing himself up so that he too could kiss Rafael. 

Rafael teetered. 

Rafael watched with lust hazed eyes as the two Sonnys looked at each other. A brief flash of tongue was all the warning Rafael got before the two of them shared a kiss. 

And Rafael’s world collapsed. 

His limbs locked as he filled the condom, his cry so loud it echoed off the ceiling as he kept coming and coming. 

It was enough to set off his lovers. Rafael felt teeth on his shoulder a split second before a heat spread inside him, accompanied by the splash of something warm on his chest. 

“Holy fuck!” 

Rafael wasn’t sure where the curse had come from, but he couldn’t have put it any better really. In his entire life, he had never felt a climax that intense, every twitch of his body setting off a chain of mini electric shocks. 

“You were amazing baby,” Sonny murmured into the crook of his neck. The other Sonny seemed to agree, pressing his hand against Rafael’s stomach for emphasis. 

“Sonny, you have to…” Rafael said in between breaths. 

“Oh yeah, sorry, sorry,” Sonny pulled out slowly, knowing that Rafael would be in oversensitive territory by now. Rafael withdrew and watched in perverse satisfaction at the amount of lube that spilled out. 

But he was so out of it that he refused to move from the spot he was on. Thankfully, the Sonnys were a bit more considerate, wiping them down as much as they could before pulling the duvet so that it just barely covered the three of them. 

One Sonny spooned Rafael from the back, burying his face into the soft downy hairs at the base of his neck. The other took Rafael’s hands and placed them on his waist so that they were facing each other. 

The look of adoration on Sonny’s face was so transparent, so unguarded. It was no wonder it got past every single barrier that Rafael had tried to put up. 

“You really do like me huh?” Rafael said dazedly. 

Sonny chuckled. 

“Yeah, I really, really do,” Sonny said, scooching even closer. 

“Do… you?” 

The words were said so quietly that Rafael wondered if he had imagined them. But he answered anyway, low and sincere. 

“I would be stupid not to.” 

Whether Sonny responded to that he would never know, the answer lost as Rafael fell asleep. 

***

“Sonny, you have lost your mind! What exactly is your game plan? We can’t just barge into the shop! We don’t have probable cause, we don’t have a warrant.” 

Carisi stopped in the middle of the street as he waited for Barba to catch up, tapping his foot impatiently. 

“Wasn’t what we went through probable cause enough Barba? There were two of us… twice!” 

“And they will send us to the rubber room if we try to tell anyone that. I can picture it now, telling some greenhorn cop that we are pretty sure that this shop is dodgy because my boyfriend fucked my brains out while I fucked his! At the same time!” 

Barba was breathless by the time he finished his sentence. But what he said made Sonny pause and turn to him with the biggest, dumbest, smile on his face. 

“I love it when you call me boyfriend,” Sonny said, a touch goofily. Rafael rolled his eyes. 

“I am gonna add an ‘ex’ to that if you don’t give me a good answer, Carisi,” Rafael said stiffly. 

“Look, we can’t let them get away with this. God knows who else they’ve passed this stuff to,” Sonny said, his steps quickening again as he looked around for the shop. 

“Yeah, pity all those people and the amazing sex they had,” Barba muttered under his breath. He knew Carisi was right of course, but he hated walking into anything less than fully prepared. 

“Have you found the place yet?” Barba asked, not liking the trickle he sweat he felt down his back. 

“I’m sure it was this lot. It had a massive ornate door, that shit isn’t easy to hide,” Sonny said, taking a step back so he could get a better look. 

He could have sworn the shop was here, in between the mini-mart and the quirky accessory store. However, the only frontage he could see was a beat up roller shutter covered in a thick layer of dust and flyers for sex pills. 

“Maybe the neighbours will know?” Barba suggested, pointing to the mini mart. 

As luck would have it, an old man popped his head out of the door to see what was going on. Carisi recognised him as the owner of the mart that he had interviewed last time. 

“Excuse me, NYPD,” Carisi said, flashing his badge. “Can you tell me what happened to the shop that was here?”

“There was no shop there,” the owner said carefully, after checking out Carisi’s shield with suspicious eyes. “That lot has been empty for a while. Nothing that opens there ever sticks around, it must be cursed.” 

Carisi and Barba shared a look that was one part confusion and one part barely concealed fear. 

“Has there been any shop around here that sells incense?” Barba asked. 

“Nothing of that sort here. Incense shops are two blocks down, there is a whole cluster of them. Now if you don’t mind,” the old man said dismissively before disappearing back into his shop. 

Neither Barba or Carisi spoke for several minutes, not wanting to say what they were thinking for fear that it would make them sound insane. 

“We didn’t imagine it, did we Barba?” Carisi spoke finally. 

“No we didn’t, but like I said, they would probably send us to the nearest psych ward if we tried to follow up,” Barba said. 

Carisi was about to agree when he felt something brush against his trouser leg. Looking down, he saw that it was an overly friendly cat with pitch black fur, rubbing its head affectionately against Carisi’s shin, its chest deep purrs causing vibrations up his leg. 

Leaning down to pet it, Carisi was struck by the feeling that he had seen this cat somewhere before. He surely would have remembered those eyes, a deep, almost fluorescent purple that appeared lit from within. 

Eyes that seemed to be looking at him knowingly. 

“Maybe it’s better that we don’t know Carisi,” Barba said, looking up at the blank signage. Carisi snorted. 

“Never thought I would hear that coming from you Barba,” Carisi said standing up, which made the cat dash away. 

“Come on, I will buy you lunch,” Barba said fondly. Carisi smiled back, finding so much beauty in his affection. 

“Coming!” he said, jogging to catch up with him. 

***

**~ The End ~**

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> PS: Yes I know Raul stopped smoking ages ago and there was only one ep where Carisi did. Filthy habit for sure, but something I can so see Rita tempting Barba with. 
> 
> Song used: 
> 
> i. **My Devil on the Bed** ~ **The GazettE** (from the album **Toxic** )


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